Investigation into the Synergistic Effect of the Zinc Peroxide/Peroxymonosulfate Double-Oxidation System for the Efficient Degradation of Tetracycline

Abstract

The increasingly severe antibiotic pollution has become one of the most critical issues. In this study, a zinc peroxide/peroxymonosulfate (ZnO2/PMS) double-oxidation system was developed for tetracycline (TC) degradation. A small amount of ZnO2 (10 mg) and PMS (30 mg) could effectively degrade 82.8% of TC (100 mL, 50 mg/L), and the degradation process could be well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Meanwhile, the ZnO2/PMS double-oxidation system showed high adaptability in terms of reaction temperature (2–40 °C), initial pH value (4–12), common inorganic anions (Cl−, NO3−, SO42− and HCO3−), natural water source and organic pollutant type. The quenching experiment and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) characterization results confirmed that the main reactive oxygen species (ROS) was singlet oxygen (1O2). Moreover, three possible pathways of TC degradation were deduced according to the analyses of intermediates. On the basis of comparative characterization and experiment results, a synergistic activation mechanism was further proposed for the ZnO2/PMS double-oxidation system, accounting for the superior degradation performance. The released OH− and H2O2 from ZnO2 could activate PMS to produce major 1O2 and minor superoxide radicals (•O2−), respectively.